Ohhh this was so long ago I can’t remember, We just bought what the flooring store reccomended :)

I rented the 3 disc sander from Home Depot and what I found was I needed to use 36 grit sandpaper to get the 1965 oil base finish off. 60 grit just took too long and since the floors in the living and dining room were stained dark I found I had no choice.

Yes, I was worried I’d take too much of the floor off, but since the floors had never been sanded (this was my parent’s home where I grew up) I gave it a shot. What I found is the 3 disc sander is very forgiving. My process was to use 36 then 60 then 80 and finally 100 grit which did the job without removing too much wood.

Since the floors were relatively flat, I only had to use a hand sander in the corners and against the walls. When I started out using 60 grit I found I would have had to use the hand sander on the floors in way too many spots, hence my going to 36 grit.

Again, thanks so much for the detailed explanation of your process.

Just the rented one but with a screen instead of sandpaper :) We used a palm sander for the corners and grooves.